LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS IN GRADE 9, AND THEIR EFFECT ON LEARNERS’ CHOICE OF SUBJECTS IN GRADE 10: A CASE STUDY CONDUCTED IN LEJWELEPUTSWA DISTRICT

Abstract

The performance of learners in Mathematics from Grade 4 to 10 is not of an acceptable standard in schools. It has been noted that when learners start school they generally feel excited about learning numbers and counting, as these are directly related to their everyday lives. In later grades, however, it appears that learners gradually lose their appetite for Mathematics and their interaction with numbers as these become less ‘obviously’ relevant as they progress through the grades. This attitude towards Mathematics has manifested itself even in the light of changes from one curriculum to another. For example, from the use of Outcome Based Education and the National Curriculum Statement to the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, the same low morale in Mathematics classrooms has persisted in South African schools. The Annual National Assessment results over years show a very insignificant improvement, if any, in the Grade 9 Mathematics results in Lejweleputswa schools as well. The introduction of Mathematical Literacy afforded learners the option to avoid enrolling for Mathematics in Grade 10 as many do not perform well in Grade 9. It is this attitude towards Mathematics in Grade 9 that prompted a need for this study in which the factors that contribute to learners’ attitudes towards Mathematics are investigated in detail. The study interrogates the extent to which learners’ attitudes towards Mathematics, particularly in Grade 9, contribute to their choice of Mathematical Literacy over Mathematics in Grade 10, even when they want to pursue Science- and Technology-related fields of study after their National Senior Certificate examinations. The sample of Grade 9 and 10 Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy learners chosen within the schools in Lejweleputswa district will be expected to reflect their opinion on how they view Mathematics, by completing a questionnaire. The study will also consider the participants’ ages and gender and to what extent these affect the attitude learners have towards Mathematics learning. The literature review in this work also places teachers and their activities in a Mathematics classroom at the centre of the development of these attitudes towards Mathematics. Bear in mind that Mathematics is a subject in which concepts and knowledge at one level directly build a foundation for the next grade, and therefore any insufficient interaction with the subject at one grade has a bearing on learning efficiently in the next. It is with this in mind that the teacher’s role is interrogated in order to reveal how it affects the development of attitudes towards the learning of Mathematics.